New icecap k1-50 skimmer.. any tips or comments on this?

[mrpontiac80]

Hi everyone, I have a icecap K1-50 skimmer to replace my Tunze 9004 in a Waterbox 65.4 aio.

this will be my 2nd skimmer and completely different than the Tunze, so I was wondering for those that have used it, if there are any starting off tips. Such as the break in period. Will it overflow for a few days? If it does do I keep dumping it or just let it run back into the tank till it breaks in? Should I start off with the water valve at half? What little info I could find on this particular skimmer also seems like there are no instructions included.

My Tunze has been working I guess as it pulls out a very wet brown liquid. I have just never felt it performed as well as everyone made it out to be. So with a heavy bio load and probably heavy feeding my nitrates and phosphates are always high. As in 20-16 nitrates and .09 up to .19 ppm phosphate.
Thanks.

 

[blaxsun]

All skimmers have a break-in period, so yes - overflowing for the first few days is normal (and you may want to simply drain back into the tank).

 

[mrpontiac80]

I have my icecap skimmer installed finally on the Waterbox 65.4 AIO. As you can see in my above post, the pump sits underneath and the water outlet sits slightly higher. My rear chamber is big enough for the skimmer but not by much.

my question is do I need a minimum area unobstructed for the pump and water outlet? I currently have the pump inlet facing the baffle to the center return chamber. The water outlet faces the other baffle for the filter section. Of course once in place, it is very difficult to gauge how much area is between the pump and baffle.

 

[Schulks]

Hey how did the k1-50 go? I am thinking about buying one right now for my new Fijicube 22.4.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone, I have a icecap K1-50 skimmer to replace my Tunze 9004 in a Waterbox 65.4 aio.

this will be my 2nd skimmer and completely different than the Tunze, so I was wondering for those that have used it, if there are any starting off tips. Such as the break in period. Will it overflow for a few days? If it does do I keep dumping it or just let it run back into the tank till it breaks in? Should I start off with the water valve at half? What little info I could find on this particular skimmer also seems like there are no instructions included.

My Tunze has been working I guess as it pulls out a very wet brown liquid. I have just never felt it performed as well as everyone made it out to be. So with a heavy bio load and probably heavy feeding my nitrates and phosphates are always high. As in 20-16 nitrates and .09 up to .19 ppm phosphate.
Thanks.

I ran this for close to a year and was trouble free to me other than pump occasionally falling out of the bottom hole. It performed like a regular full size skimmer, and didnt even require break in as it went right to work. I then moved to a K2-100 which worked even better yet and liked it so much and then got a bigger sump and running the K3 model.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey how did the k1-50 go? I am thinking about buying one right now for my new Fijicube 22.4.

You'll love it- Its headache free and impressive with gunk it pulls into the cup
Remember to turn knob until the water level is below the neck. It WILL make good foam collection

 

[Schulks]

They don't sell the k2 anymore. What was the difference?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Hey how did the k1-50 go? I am thinking about buying one right now for my new Fijicube 22.4.

The skimmer is working fantastic. It definitely pulls out the gunk and I am very glad I decided on this one. Just like vetteguy said it has been very trouble free. Every so often I pull it out and give it a good cleaning and that’s about it. One thing that I did do however Was super glue the plastic block that holds the adjustment for the water level to the skimmer body. It had a habit of falling out of place If you made any adjustments. Since that was done it’s worked great.

 

[vetteguy53081]

They don't sell the k2 anymore. What was the difference?

K2 correct but cylinder slightly wider

 

[BAMatter]

I have my icecap skimmer installed finally on the Waterbox 65.4 AIO. As you can see in my above post, the pump sits underneath and the water outlet sits slightly higher. My rear chamber is big enough for the skimmer but not by much.

my question is do I need a minimum area unobstructed for the pump and water outlet? I currently have the pump inlet facing the baffle to the center return chamber. The water outlet faces the other baffle for the filter section. Of course once in place, it is very difficult to gauge how much area is between the pump and baffle.

Are you resting that skimmer on the bottom of the chamber or is it suspended with that bracket it comes with?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Are you resting that skimmer on the bottom of the chamber or is it suspended with that bracket it comes with?

The hanger wouldn’t allow the proper water level for me, so I researched the required water depth it needed to sit in and then bought a small sheet of acrylic and cut and superglued a frame that fit very snug into the chamber. Just bottom, top, and two sides so water would still flow through the chamber properly. The cut out in bottom was to allow it to slide into chamber with the heater.